We ran an article this morning on Diabetes News Hound about a monkey that received an islet transplant from genetically altered pigs. The company involved with the research says this development is significant because islets from pigs are much more available than the limited number of islets from humans. You can check out the full article here: Type 1 Diabetes Cure Research Takes a Step Forward
However, many people say that a ‘cure’ involving immunosuppressant drugs is not a real cure. Do you think the development in this article is a step forward?
OTHER HEADLINES FROM DIABETES NEWS HOUND
Work-Related Stress May Raise Women’s Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Expert: A Day in the Life of a Diabetes Caregiver
It said they were injected with the islet cells. I have heard of other research that changes our own bodies response to the insulin producing cells to make it not attack. It is some sort of gene therapy and that is the “cure” I will be waiting for. If the cells come from humans, pigs, monkeys or even lab petri dishes and I don’t have to take immunosuppressant drugs, I will wait and pray for the best. I, myself, am not considering this a cure because the immunosuppressive drugs destroy other things and require a lot of testing.
